OUR RANGE OF MINE TOURS IN CORNWALL
Click on the pictures below to find out more about our underground and surface tours in west Cornwall. Check our booking page to see when these trips are running, or contact us to book an alternative date.
THE UNDERGROUND EXPLORER
This is our entry level mine tour. It is perfect for a first trip underground, or for those who don't feel they are ready for the Underground Adventurer. It still offers plenty of excitement and some extra challenges for those who want them.
Duration: 3 hours
Minimum Age: 10 years old
Difficulty Level: Medium
THE UNDERGROUND ADVENTURER
This is an underground excursion for those seeking adventure and adrenalin. You will be scared! You will be challenged! You will love it! A complete through-trip including 200 feet of descent, requiring abseiling, traversing and much more!
Duration: 3 hours
Minimum Age: 14 years old
Difficulty Level: Medium / Hard
The Underground Adventurer Extreme
Cornwall’s ultimate adventure - a full day of mine exploration. Complete the Underground Adventurer in the morning. Then, after lunch, we venture into another mine in the vicinity. More abseiling, exciting exploration, and caving ladders to make our escape!
Duration: 6-7 hours
Minimum Age: 18 years
Difficulty Level: Hard
THE UNDERGROUND EXPLORER
Join us to visit this fascinating tin mine set in a quiet location on the cliffs of the west Cornwall coastline. This is our easiest-level trip, but does require a brief scramble to reach a short series of ladders that we must descend in order to access the mine.
To reach all the nooks and crannies we can show you, you’re going to have to do some stooping and even some very short sections of crawling. But don’t worry, it’s not too tight, and there’s definitely no squeezing required! A reasonable level of fitness and mobility is required to participate in this trip.
For those looking for extra challenge and excitement, there is the option to abseil between some of the levels. This will give you the opportunity to experience some vertical mine exploration, and give you a taster of what techniques cavers and mine explorers do to access subterranean spaces. This obstacle can be bypassed, so anyone who doesn’t like heights doesn’t need to worry.
This is an ancient mine. Marvel at how the Cornish miners worked these narrow spaces over the centuries, first working the surface, before digging deeper underground in search of the precious tin. Your guide will explain how the ‘old men’ excavated these tunnels, and what different features of the mine were used for. You can put yourselves in the miner’s shoes and contemplate life as a Cornish miner in the 18th century.
Duration: 3 hours
Minimum Age: 10 years old
Difficulty Level: Medium, a reasonable level of fitness is required to participate in this trip. It is necessary to traverse uneven, hilly ground, both at surface and undergound, as well as descend some ladders and negotiate some small spaces.
Price: £40 per person.
Equipment required: As with all our underground trips, we will provide you with a caving suit, headlamp, wellies, helmet, and harness. You simply need to wear some old and warm clothes underneath your caving suit, and a spare pair of socks.
THE UNDERGROUND ADVENTURER
This is our thrilling through-trip, where we enter one entrance of the mine, journey through the network of undergound workings, chock-full of obstacles, to reach our exit. Entering the mine thorugh an adit in the Cornish cliffside, we must negotiate our way through the maze of tunnels before finally reaching daylight once more.
This is a vertical caving trip, and we cover a total of two hundred feet. To complete our underground journey we will be using ropes to traverse across shafts and climb along the walls of gaping chasms. There is also, of course, the chance to do some abseiling, as asbeiling is an integral part of any good caving or mine epxloration trip. There are a few other surprises too, that we’re not going to give away here!
This ancient mine dates from at least the 16th century. As you travel through the mine you will journey through time. Starting with some of the oldest workings, before reaching sections worked only a hundred years ago. Your guides know the mine intimately, and all your questions about how this mine worked will be answered. That’s if you’re not too preoccupied with all the adventurous obstacles that keep coming your way!
Duration: 3-4 hours
Minimum Age: 14 years old
Difficulty Level: Medium, a good level of fitness is recommended for this trip. In addition, most of the obstacles cannot be avoided. You must be prepared to abseil and have regular exposure to heights.
Price: £50 per person.
Equipment required: As with all our underground trips, we will provide you with a caving suit, headlamp, wellies, helmet, and harness. You simply need to wear some old and warm clothes underneath your caving suit, and a spare pair of socks.
The Underground Adventurer Extreme
New for 2021, we’re very proud to present the Underground Adventurer Extreme, possibly Cornwall’s most challenging adventure experience. This is a full day of mine exploration, and gives you the chance to explore deeper and further than you thought possible!
In the morning we ‘warm up’ with the Underground Adventurer, an awesome trip in its own right (see above). After you’ve completed this through trip through this ancient tin mine, we’ll take a break for lunch.
If the weather is good, it’s a perfect location to have a picnic by the sea. If the weather’s bad we’ll hunker down underground and let the weather do its thing. This is a great chance to ask your guides all you ever wanted to know about Cornish mines and mine exploring.
After lunch, we’ll put the skills we learned in the morning to good use and venture into an adjacent mine for an even deeper exploration. The mine can only be reached via two abseils and crossing a few chasms.
Once we’ve reached the bottom level of the mine, we can explore the vast network of tunnels and marvel at the seemingly endless workings the miners excavated over hundreds of years.
Then, the final challenge is to climb back up the walls of the mine before a final caving-ladder climb to reach the exit and daylight once again.
This is an incredible journey for fit, enthusiastic explorers only. No previous experience is required, but a head for heights is essential, as well as a good level of fitness, mobility, and stamina to keep up a full day of underground exploration.
Duration: 6-7 hours
Minimum Age: 18 years old
Difficulty Level: Hard, a good level of fitness is recommended for this trip, as well as the ability to explore all day. In addition, most of the obstacles cannot be avoided. You must be prepared to abseil and have regular exposure to heights.
Price: £95 per person.
Equipment required: As with all our underground trips, we will provide you with a caving suit, headlamp, wellies, helmet, and harness. You simply need to wear some old and warm clothes underneath your caving suit, and a spare pair of socks.
We recommend bringing a choice of layers to wear, as well as a second set of clothes in case you want to change halfway through. Finally, you also need to bring lucnh, and enough drink and additional snacks to last the day.